Reindexing?

[tradeemarkk]

Hi,

I recently downloaded bitcoin core, and kind of jumped the gun and sent myself bitcoins before my wallet was done downloading the block chain. However it keeps corrupting trying to download it, so i'm gonna end up using a light version of a wallet. I sent myself about $90 USD worth of bitcoins. Since I cant see the transaction until that part of the chain is downloaded (which I cant) is there anyway I can recover those bitcoins I sent myself?

Thanks.

[achow101]

You can export the private key and sweep the Bitcoin into your wallet. In Bitcoin Core, go to Help > Debug Window and then the Console tab. Then type

Code:

dumpprivkey <address>

Where <address> is the address of you want the private key of. Then you can take that private key and sweep it into your new wallet.

[tradeemarkk]

Im sorry "Where <address> is the address of you want the private key of. Then you can take that private key and sweep it into your new wallet."

That has me totally lost.

[achow101]

Im sorry "Where <address> is the address of you want the private key of. Then you can take that private key and sweep it into your new wallet."

That has me totally lost.

You have Bitcoins sent to an address in your wallet. That address is the address you enter for that argument. The dumpprivkey command will output the private key to that address. You have to take that private key and enter it into another wallet in order to spend the Bitcoin associated with that key.

[DannyHamilton]

If you want more specific step-by-step instructions than achow101 has given you, then you'll need to give us the name of the lightweight wallet software that you've chosen to use AND one of the following:

• The bitcoin address that you sent the bitcoins to when you "sent yourself bitcoins"
• The number of bitcoins AND transactionID of the transaction that was created when you "sent yourself bitcoins"

[tradeemarkk]

I will be using electrum as my lightweight wallet,

1LWJ1Pxkx8vSJSLCLFYChbrRW7WGnnxuTJ is the address I sent myself bitcoins with

Transaction # 1ef9ecb664c4c84fda92dba32f3948ab813c5569929355ec893d04e099623344
Number of coins : 0.14680936

Any help is appreciated!

[achow101]

Open Bitcoin Core. Go to Help > Debug Window > Console. In the box at the bottom, type

Code:

dumpprivkey 1LWJ1Pxkx8vSJSLCLFYChbrRW7WGnnxuTJ

It should then return a string in black text. That is your private key.

Now open Electrum. Make a new wallet (File > New/Restore). Give it a name. Then choose the option for "Standard wallet" and click Next. Choose "Use public or private keys" and click Next. Copy and paste the private key you got earlier into the box. Then click Next. Follow the rest of the instructions in the wizard and you should be good to go.

I really hate it when people don't read the generic instructions and ask for the specific hand-holding instructions. Can't you read??

[DannyHamilton]

EDIT:  It looks like achow101 responded faster than me.  I'll leave this here anyhow just in case it's helpful.

• Start up Bitcoin Core if it isn't currently running
• Click on the "File" menu option
• The File menu will pop up
• Click on the "Backup Wallet" option in the File Menu
• Type a name that you will remember for your backup file in the "Save As" text box
• Choose a secure location to save the file (perhaps on a USB flash drive?)
• Click the [Save] button to save the backup of your wallet
• Store this backup somewhere safe.  You can use this if you accidentally do anything that messes up your wallet
• Click on the "Help" menu option
• The help menu will pop up
• Click on the "Debug Window" option in the Help Menu
• The Debug Window will pop up
• Click on the "Console" option in the Debug Window
• You will have a small text box where you can enter console commands, and a large text box where you will see the results of the commands that you enter
• If you protected your wallet with a password, enter the following command in the small text box (you can skip this step if your wallet is not password protected)

Code:

walletpassphrase YourPasswordHere 600

(This will unlock your wallet for 600 seconds, so you can get your private key. If it takes you more than 10 minutes to get your private key, then you'll need to run this command again.  Hopefully it is clear that you aren't actually going to type the word "YourPasswordHere", but instead rather you'll replace that with your actual password)

• Don't forget to press the [Enter] key or [Return] key after typing the command
• In the small text box, enter the following command

Code:

dumpprivkey 1LWJ1Pxkx8vSJSLCLFYChbrRW7WGnnxuTJ

• Don't forget to press the [Enter] key or [Return] key after typing the command
• The command will show up in the large text box, and right below it will be a long string of 52 or 53 letters and numbers starting with K or L
• This is your private key. Do not share it with ANYONE.  Do not store it where anyone else can see or copy it
• Store this private key somewhere safe and secure where you can get at it later when you need it.
• Shut down Bitcoin Core

I'm not an expert on Electrum or how to sweep the bitcoins from the private key into Electrum.  Hopefully someone else with more Electrum knowledge will stop by to give you information about that, but if not you could ask in the Electrum subforum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=98.0